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Bishop Heelan Catholic High School 12th grader Brianna Courtney holds up a plate of holiday cookies that she and her life science class made for their teachers, administrators and support staff. A cook and baker in her spare time, Brianna loves being challenged in the kitchen.

Forty-two Bishop Heelan Catholic High School 12th graders participated in a class in which they made homemade holiday cookies for their teachers. Instructor Kay Bukovich said this seasonal tradition has been going on for more than 25 years.

Smart cookies: Heelan High students carry on a sweet tradition

Bishop Heelan Catholic High School 12th grader Brianna Courtney holds up a plate of holiday cookies that she and her life science class made for their teachers, administrators and support staff. A cook and baker in her spare time, Brianna loves being challenged in the kitchen.

Earl Horlyk, Sioux City Journal

Forty-two Bishop Heelan Catholic High School 12th graders participated in a class in which they made homemade holiday cookies for their teachers. Instructor Kay Bukovich said this seasonal tradition has been going on for more than 25 years.

SIOUX CITY -- Luis Magana is a pro when it comes to twisting cookie dough into the shape of a red-and-white candy cane.

"I like cooking and I also like to bake," the Bishop Heelan Catholic High School 12th grader said, gingerly taking his cookie creation from a tray to an assembly line of paper plates. "My mom taught me how to bake and so did my grandma."

That meant Luis was right at home during a food consumer science skills class in which 42 students were assigned to make Christmas cookies for Heelan teachers, administrators and support staff.

"It has been a longstanding Christmas tradition for students to bake cookies for their teachers," teacher Kay Bukovich said inside her classroom. "I've been here for 25 years and it predates my time here."

While Luis' culinary specialties happen to be made-from-scratch holiday stuffing and a Mexican dessert called flan, his classmate Dawson Fenton is more adept at making Chicken Alfredo.

"Now that sounds more complicated than it actually is," Dawson said. "It's just chicken and noodles, so it's easy."

Looking over dozens and dozens of freshly baked cookies, Brianna Courtney said she can't choose a favorite.

"I love the colorful ones because they're pretty," she said. "But I also like the chocolate ones since they're so delicious."

An amateur baker in her spare time, Brianna said she makes brownies because "they're not hard to make."

She contended cookies aren't too complicated but offer a few more challenges.